At this time of year it can seem like everybody else has gone on holiday and you’re the only one at work.
But the week in news is here to make you feel better.
1) Money Scamming Expert
What got Martin Lewis hot under the collar this week? It was the “disgusting” use of his image.
(We’re assuming he doesn’t think the image itself is disgusting)
The founder of Money Saving Expert has warned binary options fraudsters are using his name as part of scams to trap unsuspecting investors.
The journalist and television presenter said some companies were using his image and the name of his company to sell “scams” through adverts on Facebook, which he said his company does not use.
Mr Lewis said some people had already lost thousands of pounds in a binary trading scam.
The Financial Conduct Authority has this week warned that UK consumers are increasingly being targeted by binary options investment scams.
2) Jail the rich!
It might be hard for some people to feel sympathy for landlords, particularly if you’re a tenant.
So many people will have been playing their tiny violins when they heard a Hampshire landlord was jailed for evading capital gains tax.
An investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) revealed that between 2006 and 2013, Richard Fuller didn’t declare profit gained from selling properties in the Aldershot area.
This allowed the 53-year-old to evade a total of £157,725 in capital gains tax.
3) Like it or lump (sum) it
If there’s one thing people seem to hate as much as lawyers and – ahem – journalists, it appears to be the pension system.
Advisers are reporting increasing numbers of clients seeking to the withdraw tax-free lump sum from their retirement fund even if they have no immediate need of it, due to a lack of trust in the pension system.
According to HM Revenue & Customs statistics, the amount of cash being pulled out of pensions reached its highest level in the second quarter of 2017 since the 2015 pension freedom reforms.
Manchester-based advice firm Appleton Gerrard told FTAdviser the number of internet inquiries it has received from non-clients on this matter is rising, as people wonder if reinvesting 25 per cent of their pension somewhere else would be a better option than leaving it put.
Other advisers FTAdviser spoke to had similar concerns.
4) Risky business
The Financial Conduct Authority has published a warning about an online broker firm.
The warning notice is in relation to Interactive Brokers (UK) Ltd, the British arm of an American company called Interactive Brokers which offers low-cost online trading.
It claims the company breached FCA rules by failing to take reasonable care to organise its affairs responsibly and effectively with adequate risk management systems in relation to market abuse.
According to the regulator, Interactive Brokers failed on three separate occasions to identify and report to the FCA transactions which it had reasonable grounds to suspect amounted to market abuse in the form of insider dealing.
5) Standard FCA meddling?
Most advisers just want to be left alone by the FCA, but would more standardisation help mortgage brokers?
That’s the question Ishaan Mahli, the founder of online mortgage broker Trussle, is asking.
He revealed this week he has been in talks with the regulator about creating an industry standard for mortgage documents.
The plan would involve standardising the amount of time for which documents are required for certain cases - for example, three months’ payslips - as well as the document format.
damian.fantato@ft.com
